Google

OK, Google started as a search company in 1998, when Sergey Brin and Larry Page were doctoral students at Stanford. And fifteen years later? Google is a verb. That's how ingrained it's become into our lexicon, as well as into our lives. If you want to know something, you "Google" it.

Of course, Google is so much more now. It's an advertising company (which still provides the bulk of its revenue). It's a video-hosting company, with YouTube. It's a social network, with Google+. It's a mobile company, with Android. It's leading the wearables revolution with Google Glass and Android Wear. Google's making inroads into enterprise with its web-based infrastructures, to the point where municipal governments and private businesses alike are ditching the server racks for the cloud. It's seeking to change the way we use computers with its not-quite-a-thin-client Chromebooks.

And that was just the first 15 years.

Where will Google go next? That's a question many of us can't wait to see answered. And, understandably, it's a question many are wary of. Is Google too big? Is it too powerful? Does it know too much? Is it doing the right things for the right reasons? Or is it just trying to become as rich and powerful as it possibly can? Those are all fair questions, and ones that Google should ask itself, and ones that we as its customers should continue to it.

Google's Android-powered smartwatch 'could be ready for mass production within months'
Rumors of Google working on its own Android-powered smartwatch are nothing new — we've been hearing whispers to that effect from several sources over the past six months. But a report in The Wall Street...

Smaller Canadian carrier lifts lid on Google and LG's next Nexus phone
Update: Unsurprisingly, the Wind pre-reg page has now been pulled.
Original post: The Nexus 5 leaks continue, and today it's Canada's Wind Mobile that's let the cat out of the bag a little early. Wind's newly-published pre-...

Explorers who purchased Glass already can upgrade to the new hardware version for free
Google announced today that it will be expanding the availability of Glass, as well as refreshing the hardware based on Explorer feedback. While there aren't any specifics on a new design or exact features,...

'A morning with Google+'
Google's ready to show the world some updates to its eve-growing social network, and an online event has been scheduled for tomorrow morning, Oct. 29, at 9.30am PDT (12.30pm EDT, 4:30pm GMT). There's no indication as to what the Google+ team will be revealing, but the...

Imported U.S. model with UK adapter
We're expecting a couple more Nexus devices to land before the week's out, but if you're in the market for a 2013 Nexus 7 — still one of the best small tablets out there — here's a deal worth taking a look at. UK merchant Pixel Electronics on Play.com is...

No carrier service, no problem — if you're in Indonesia
Google has partnered with MOGPlay and are now offering free or cheap Wifi access for folks in Jakarta, Indonesia. Wifi hotspots are scattered around the city, and using the official Android app and voucher codes, users can connect and stay...

Update: Looks like things have reverted back, and the Sound Search widget is once again unavailable in Canada.
Original story: Though they're still unable to stream from Google Play Music, Canadians now have the ability to use Google's Sound Search widget to identify music. The widget works on...

40GB total free cloud storage for HTC One owners who update
Yesterday we brought you news of HTC Sense 5.5 and Android 4.3 hitting some European HTC One devices, and now there's another reason to eagerly await the latest update for the phone. Similar to the Google Drive promotion for the HTC One...

Paid option could offer offline listening and no advertisements
In a somewhat puzzling bit of news, rumor has it that YouTube will launch its own subscription music service. According to sources of Billboard, YouTube is planning a two-tiered subscription music service that builds on the music...

Nexus 7 for $16 per month, Tab 2 for $19 per month, for two years
Along with its new tablet data announcements today, T-Mobile revealed that it'll be carrying two of the more prominent Android slates for $0 down. T-Mo will give you a Nexus 7 (2013) with LTE connectivity on a 24-month payment...

High-resolution contact photos among new CardDAV additions
Google's rolling out several improvements to CardDAV, its open standard for accessing contact data, today. The most noticeable change is the new support for high-resolution contact photos, meaning some (mainly non-Android) mobile devices...

Third-quarter earnings show Wall Street pleased with Google's continued growth
Google’s third-quarter results were published on Thursday, and I had a chance to look into the results this morning. Some of the key financial figures were already covered in Thursday's brief post on this, so I’d...

We're getting closer and closer to the inevitable launch of the Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 KitKat, and with the device's image recently slipping out on Google Play — along with a $349 price point — there's more buzz than ever around this year's Nexus handset.
The Android Central forums are a great...

Revenues and operating income increase, but Motorola posts operating loss of $248 million
Google has just announced its Q3 2013 earnings, and it's another solid quarter for the search giant. We're listening in on the earnings call as we speak, but here's your breakdown of the financials:
$14....

New icons for pinned music also in latest version
There's a new version of Google Play Music rolling out today, bringing with it a couple of interesting new features. The first is plain to see at the top of the Listen Now and Radio sections, named "I'm feeling lucky radio," in an homage to...

Cleaner, faster interface that's easier to navigate
Google's coupon and deals app, Google Offers, is getting a nice update today to modernize and improve the interface throughout the app. The new main screen of the app is separated into three tabs — Browse, Featured and My Offers — that can be...

This finely crafted case would be a great place for a new phone or tablet to sit
This seemingly well-built Google branded display case was spotted by a reader in a Houston, Texas area Best Buy store. We received no other information, and really can't say what it might be for.
What we can say is...

Great commercial spots highlight Google Now, Hangouts and Google Play Books
If there's one thing that Google is great at as of late, it's commercials for its products. Whether its showing off the power of Gmail, Google Search or its Nexus devices, it always knows how to hit your emotions in the...

Still no Nexus 7 support, but the HTC One and Galaxy S4 now work with this essential football fan app
ESPN has done a great job developing their college Football app for Android. The only problem was that it has not been compatible with the latest and greatest phones available, like the HTC One...

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